Professor Chris Williams

Biography

Chris Williams is Professor of Psychosocial Psychiatry at the University of Glasgow, Scotland, UK. His main clinical and research interest is in the area of Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) and in particular in looking at ways of disseminating this approach more widely. He has developed written and computer-based self-help treatments for anxiety, depression and bulimia and is a well-known CBT researcher, trainer and teacher. He is a President-elect of the British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies - the lead body for CBT in the United Kingdom and also a past Governing Board member of the United Kingdom for Psychotherapy (UKCP). He is Director of Glasgow Institute of Psychosocial Interventions (GIPSI) - which has a focus on training and research in evidence-based psychosocial interventions. He is also a Trustee of the charity Triumph over Phobia - a user-led self-help organisation addressing self-management of anxiety and a Patron of the National Phobics Society - the anxiety disorders charity.

He has published a number of self-help packages addressing depression, bulimia and anxiety - details of which are available at www.fiveareas.com

Research interests

Research interests focus on Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) and in particular in looking at ways of disseminating this approach more widely to non-CBT specialists. This has included the development and evaluation of a jargon-free CBT model (the so-called five areas approach) and linked training courses SPIRIT (Structured Psychosocial InteRventions In Teams) project in secondary care and the START project (Self-help training access resource team) in primary care. Linked to this, he has developed a series of training CD ROMs and online packages aimed at helping train health care practitioners in the detection and treatment of common mental disorders.

His main focus is on the evaluation of a series of written (Overcoming Depression and Overcoming Anxiety) and computerised (Overcoming Depression and Overcoming Bulimia) self-help packages for use by patients experiencing common mental health disorders. This includes a CSO funded randomised controlled trial of written Cognitive Behaviour Therapy self-help materials, two MRC-funded Brain Sciences Platform studies examining the treatment of bulimia in adolescents online and medically unexplained symptoms in neurology clinics, a current large HTA funded project examining CBT for treatment resistant depression in primary care, and current randomised controlled evaluations of the effectiveness of the Living Life to the Full, Overcoming anorexia and Overcoming bulimia websites.

His clinical work has focused on the local delivery of CBT self-help materials including running the University accredited SPIRIT training course in the use of CBT self-help materials, and the Living Life to the Full College course and website www.llttf.com/ - which has averaged over a million "hits" a month and is recommended by various bodies such as CSIP.

He has a close interest in teaching and training and co-organises the delivery and examinations for the Undergraduate Psychiatry course.

Grants

Grants and Awards listed are those received whilst working with the University of Glasgow.

Multi Centre RCT of a group psychological intervention for Postnatal Depression in British Mothers of South Asian Origin
National Institute for Health Research
2016 - 2020

Integrated therapist and online CBT for depression in primary care
National Institute for Health Research
2016 - 2022

EMPOWER: Early Signs Monitoring to Prevent Relapse and Promote Wellbeing, Engagement and Recovery
National Institute for Health Research
2016 - 2018

Multicenter RCT to evaluate the clinical and cost-effectiveness of a culturally adapted therapy (C-MAP) in patients with a history of self-harm
Medical Research Council
2015 - 2018

Development of a guided self-help Cognitive Behavioural Therapy resource for the reduction of dental anxiety in young people aged 11-16 years
National Institute for Health Research
2013 - 2015

BEAT-IT: A randomised controlled trial comparing a behavioural activation treatment for depression in adults with learning disabilities with an attention control
National Institute for Health Research
2013 - 2017